WASHINGTON — The government unveiled a bold plan Sunday to rescue troubled Citigroup, including taking a $20 billion stake in the firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.

The action, announced jointly by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is aimed at shoring up a huge financial institution whose collapse would wreak havoc on the already crippled financial system and the U.S. economy.

The sweeping plan, the latest in a string of high-profile government bailouts, is geared to stemming a crisis of confidence in the company, whose stock has been hammered in the past week on worries about its financial health.

Critics worry the actions could put billions of taxpayers’ dollars in jeopardy and encourage financial companies to take excessive risks. The $20 billion cash injection by the Treasury Department will come from the $700 billion financial bailout package. The capital infusion follows an earlier one of $25 billion — in Citigroup.

As part of the plan, Treasury and the FDIC will guarantee against the “possibility of unusually large losses” on up to $306 billion of risky loans and securities backed by commercial and residential mortgages.

Under the loss-sharing arrangement, Citigroup Inc. will assume the first $29 billion in losses on the risky pool of assets. Beyond that amount, the government would absorb 90 percent of the remaining losses, and Citigroup 10 percent.

Money from the $700 billion bailout and funds from the FDIC would cover the government’s portion of potential losses.

The Federal Reserve would finance the remaining assets with a loan. The deal would include restrictions on dividends and bonus pay for executives.

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